


Melancholy and the Recovery of Feeling.

by BornofFlame



Series: Among Gods and Mortals. [17]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Happy Ending, Italian!Remy, Italian!Virgil, Logan child of athena, M/M, Milano - Freeform, Roman learned italian cause he is romantic that way, Virgil child of Theodon, and I can't spell, clearsighted emile, emile being the stronk welsh sailor he is, italina, long hair virgil supremecy, or more of a meloncoly, patton child of apollo or hecate, rachel is a funky pal, remy can't drive, there's no need for a car, to be fair, virgil being sleepy and adorable, wow the end came quick my dudes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29304648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BornofFlame/pseuds/BornofFlame
Summary: it's the end of an era
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Dr. Emile Picani, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Among Gods and Mortals. [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099127
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	Melancholy and the Recovery of Feeling.

**Author's Note:**

> look, I cried.  
> and cassie--- she's me, or at least a fake name and her bit is heavily inspired by an actual conversion I had with someone who lived in the same apartment building as me and my family. Literally anything about Milano is pulled from my personal memories and ancedotes.
> 
> anyway, enjoy the finale. and it's gifted to all of you in a sense.

Emile wasn’t expecting to step off the ship and immediately be tackled by a black and purple blur.

But it happened and he fell back, arms coming to wrap around the person who was hugging him.

“Emile!” His brother called from his spot. “You have a feral Italian on you!”

“I know!” Emile sat up and kissed Virgil. “You’re alive!”

Virgil’s hair was longer, and it had a slight curl to it, making him look older than he had been last time Emile saw him, and the cut on his forehead had healed into a faded scar.

“I missed you.” Virgil kissed him and when he pulled away, Emile smiled.

“I missed you too. It’s been what, two years?”

“Year and a half. I’ve been busy, but I’m finally done.” Virgil sat back and helped Emile so that they weren’t completely laying on a dirty dock.

“What have you been doing?”

“Demigod hunting.” Virgil pulled out a worn piece of paper and smoothed it out. “Fifteen kids in total. They’re at camp or the Europe equivalent, which is in Russia and involved a lot more bears.”

“Sounds like an adventure.”

“It was. And I was wondering if you wanted to go on one with me?” Virgil looked at him and Emile paused.

“You want me to come?” Emile let go of Virgil and wrapped his arms around himself. “With you?”

“Of course.”

Death bringer.

His brother had warned him. But Emile couldn’t find it in himself to care. Virgil wanted to be with him, to adventure. So, if this was going to be the reason why he’d die, then he was all for it. 

“I’d love to. I just need to tell my Mam, and we’ll probably need to do one last trip to Baltimore, but from there, I’ll come with you wherever.”

Virgil tackled him in a hug again.

…

Patton burst into the Athena cabin and Logan looked up from his book to see that the Apollo boy was grinning widely.

“Virgil’s back!”

Logan stood and followed Patton out and across the cabins, up to the pavilion, where Virgil was, a few other demigods around him.

When Virgil saw them, he broke away and ran down to meet them. “Pat, Lo, you guys look way older!”

“It’s been two years.” Logan deadpanned and Virgil rolled his eyes as he pulled both of them into a hug.

“I know, I know. Are Nico and Will in New Rome still?”

“Yeah.” Patton beamed. “I'm the head of the Apollo cabin and Lo’s head of the Athena.”

“Nice.” Virgil pulled back. “And the kids I brought here, are they all doing okay?”

“Um, one girl died about three months ago, but other than that, yeah most of them have adjusted.” Logan nodded. “Yep.”

“Cool. I have about four hours here before I need to go, but I promise to visit more often in the future.” 

“You better.” Logan said seriously. “I will hunt you down if you don’t.”

Virgil blinked. “You’re like four eleven. I’m terrified of your wrath.”

“Good.”

“Lo!” Patton yelped. “I thought you said you’d stop threatening people!”

“No.” Logan deadpanned and Virgil laughed.

“I’m going to go find Rachel, I’ll stop by before I leave.” Virgil started to back away, but as he did, Logan and Patton fell into step with him.

“We’ll take you there.”

“Thanks.”

…

Rachel honestly wasn’t expecting to hear the sound of a sword against a shield outside her cave.

She stuck her head out and saw Logan and Patton both standing there. Ah, well that explained Logan’s signature way of knocking instead of just bursting in like how Patton normally did.

“Hey kiddos.”

Patton smiled, and got his sword back as Logan retracted his shield back into the coin it was normally housed in.

“Virgil’s back!”

“Nifty.” Rachel stepped out and finally saw him. “De Rossi, how’s it been?”

“It’s been. Can I come in?”

“Course. Dude, I’ve missed you so fucking much. Camp isn’t the same when we’re missing both of our resident Italians.”

“Oof.” Virgil followed her inside, noticing that the walls were completely covered, more than last time, and he even noticed a small spot where there was a crude drawing that looked like it was drawn by someone else.

“Who did this?”

Rachel turned, saw the drawing and grinned. “There’s this cute little Hermes girl. She loves coming down here and hey, I support any artist.”

“Aww.” Virgil sat down on one of the stools and Rachel did too, both silent for a moment.

“Did you find him?”

“Yeah, he was a dick, but not as bad as I was expecting.” Virgil paused. “And I woke up a few nights ago and he left me this.” He pulled out a necklace and passed it to Rachel. “So I mean, it could’ve been worse.”

Rachel glanced at the necklace. “Broken scales? I forgot that was his thing. If I was a god, I’d probably want my symbol to be like a hairbrush or something.”

“What?”

Rachel grinned. “I hit the Lord of Time with one.” She threw the necklace back and Virgil barely managed to catch it.

“Poggers.”

“What does that mean?”

“Oh my god, different reality. Uh, it kinda means cool. It was a Youtube thing in the gaming community.” Virgil looked at the necklace in his hand before slipping it away. “I uh, met someone.”

“Ope?” Rachel leaned forward and rested her head in her hands. “Spill.”

“He’s great. Saved my life and helped me get kick started again. He’s actually back at a motel near here, didn’t want to test the borders.”

“Aww, you should’ve brought him. I assume he’s clearsighted?”

“Yeah, his whole family is. Apparently his brother can see a bit of the future and his mom too. Weird stuff.”

“That’s how it started with me. And they might have a bit of immortal blood way way back.” Rachel smiled. “I’m glad you found someone.”

“Me too.” Virgil shuffled his backpack off and pulled out a developed photo. “He got a picture of us in Boston, you can have it.”

Rachel took it and grinned. “You have a thing for redheads?”

“I have a thing for loveable idiots who are taller than me.” Virgil ducked his head and blushed. “But yeah, and he’s Welsh.”

“Does he have an accent?”

“Yeah… and he likes mine, when I’m not doing an Americanised one.”

“I’m melting, that is  _ so  _ cute!” Rachel smiled down at the photo. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” Virgil stood and put his backpack on. “I probably have to go, but I promised Lo and Patton that I’d visit more often.”

Rachel also stood and she wrapped him in a hug. “Don’t be a stranger De Rossi.”

“Okay Rachel Elizabeth.” Virgil half laughed and hugged her back. “I won’t drop off kids without coming in anymore.”

Rachel let go, they walked to the cave exit and when Virgil got there, he ripped a hole in reality and turned.

“Ey?” He gestured to it and Rachel clapped.

“Looks great. And are your hands okay?”

“Oh no, the nerves are shot, but they don’t bleed anymore at least.”

“We take what we can get. See you soon De Rossi.”

Virgil smiled and stepped through and Rachel watched as the void wobbled before collapsing on itself.

Nifty party trick.

…

_ One reality over, that’s slightly to the left… _

Roman dragged his bag over to the terminal, scanning for Remy, who said that he’d be early, which meant five minutes late.

“HEYO!” An achingly familiar voice yelled and Roman turned to see that Remy was holding a sign that read:  _ Senza droghe per sei mesi, così orgoglioso! _

Roman made his way over and pulled off Remy’s sunglasses and kissed him. “You didn’t have to pretend that I was an addict.”

“It’s fun to embarrass you.” Remy pulled back. “Since when could you read Italian?”

“I took three classes last semester so I could hear when you’re talking shit.” Roman paused. “And I didn’t want to spend the whole summer without knowing what people were saying.”

“Aw, that’s sweet babes.”

“Thanks.” Roman kissed him again. “I also rented a car because I don’t want my shit stolen on the hour train ride to your apartment.”

“Okay. Andiamo.” Remy tucked the poster under one arm and held Roman’s hand with the other as they made their way to the rental pick up.

Car was secured, Remy drove them out and once they were on the highway, he grinned at Roman.

“So the apartment I’m in is a one bedroom, but don’t worry, I’ve got a big ass bed and there’s also a pullout couch I can crash on if you aren’t ready or comfy with that.”

“Remy, you literally stayed in my bed when you came to visit eight months ago.”

“Oh yeah. And there’s this super religious family across the hall, but their daughter, she’s like eleven, she’s great. Brought by cookies on some american holiday. I honestly think that the day she snaps will be excellent.”

Roman blinked. “What?”

Remy shrugged and pulled off the freeway, almost hitting another car as he sped up. “The dad’s actually in my college classes, that’s why they moved here.”

“No, I’m concerned about why you think an eleven year old snapping would be good.”

“Her mother hit her when she spoke up about something. I was bringing my groceries up the stairs and heard the whole convo. The parents are psychos.” Remy jerked the wheel as they rounded a corner and Roman yelped out a swear.

“FUCK dude!”

“Oh, we’re almost there.”

The rest of the drive was silent and once parked, Remy gestured to the building. “Dateo. My home. Oh, and we visit my mama and Babbo on Sundays.”

“Sounds great.”

…

There was a girl sitting on the stairs when Remy started walking up. Roman paused because Remy did and the Italian crouched so he was eye level with her.

“Tutto okay?”

“Sarò.” She looked up at Roman and smirked. “L’americano di cui mi hai parlato?”

“Yeah kiddo. Don’t tell your mom I kiss boys, okay?”

She nodded. “Mom said that I’d go to hell if I kissed a girl.”

Remy ruffled her blonde hair. “Yeah, hell’s fake. Anyway, this is Ro, we’ll be around all summer.”

“Okay, you should take him to Dolci Melodie.”

“Will do. Let me know if there’s any other getaleria we should go to. See you around Cassie.” 

Cassie shuffled to the side of the stairs and Remy gave her one last head pat before standing. He led Roman up two flights of stairs and then down to the end of the hall, unlocking a green door.

“Was that the eleven year old you mentioned?” Roman asked quietly once they were inside.

“Yeah. Here’s my house, there’s the glass garbage can, the plastic one and the paper one. The compost one is under the sink.”

Roman followed Remy to his room and the other flung open a wardrobe, revealing that it was empty.

“I had to bully the MIP to give me this second one. Once you’re settled, I’ll show you downtown, the three bus can get us there in like five minutes.”

Roman smiled. “Sounds great love.”

…

_ Virgil & Emile’s reality. _

Virgil was standing next to Emile and he felt his boyfriend’s hand at his elbow, a warning that he was about to hold his hand.

“I’m excited.” Emile said softly. “But you don’t have to do this.”

“Milano has ten million people, there’s no way we’ll run into someone I knew. And I want to show you my home, it’s beautiful.”

Emile squeezed his hand, which Virgil didn’t feel, but he let go and took a step back. “You got this.”

Virgil nodded and held both of his hands up, slowly pulling forward. For Emile, it was strange to watch as the air rippled and his boyfriend literally ripped a hole in the reality that he had always known.

Once the void was big enough, Virgil stepped back and surveyed his work. “That is way harder than just ripping it to travel here. Like… multiple layers?” He turned to Emile and held out a hand. “Ready?”

Emile took his hand. “Always.”

They stepped through.

…

_ One reality over, that’s slightly to the left… _

Virgil collapsed on the other side, but his boyfriend was ready, scooping him up and cradling him close.

“Everything good?”

“Tired.”

“I know, but we still need to check into that AirBnB you somehow rented cross dimensionally.” Emile said softly.

Virgil made an unintelligible noise and waved his hand, flailing for his phone and pressing it into Emile’s chest.

“Carry me, I’ll guide you.”

Emile laughed softly and carried Virgil out of the alley that they had landed in, following his directions as Virgil guided them to an apartment building.

A middle aged man was waiting out in front of a massive door and Emile watched in amazement as he unlocked a smaller door that was in the big door.

“You two?” the man broke off into Italian, gesturing at them.

Virgil responded in kind and the man nodded, leading them inside, where there was a courtyard. Emile followed him to where the entrance to the AirBnB was and after a quick conversion, the keys were theirs and the man left.

“I just need a quick nap and we can go to the Duomo.” Virgil said tiredly.

“Okay, but don’t feel pressured to show me anything today.” Emile said softly as he opened a door in the apartment and brought Virgil over to the double bed and set him down after getting his backpack and shoes off.

Virgil muttered something in Italian sleepily and held out his hands. “Come cuddle.”

Emile smiled and kicked off his shoes and jacket before crawling next to Virgil and nestling himself in his boyfriend’s arms.

“Ti amo..” Virgil closed his eyes and was asleep in moments, leaving Emile to smile and blush.

…

Roman was loving all the shops and people that they were walking by, Remy describing everything in Italian and English as he poked out stuff with his free hand.

“Oooh, wait out here.” Remy paused in front of a store. “I’ll be right out.”

He ran inside the store and Roman laughed to himself as he waited, pulling out his phone and looking down at it.

He realized after a moment, that it was dumb to have it out, he was literally in Italy and he should at least look around, it was his first time in Milan!

Roman turned and started to watch the people pass, the lull of a thousand conversions.

And it would have been fine if it weren’t for  _ that  _ laugh.

Roman paused. Took a few steps. Stopped.

He  _ knew _ that laugh. He’d heard it a thousand times during late night conversations, during phone calls that only lasted a few minutes because international calls were so damn expensive. 

And from his spot, the young adult with the black hair that went to his shoulders paused his walking. He rotated and the world  _ froze _ for Roman.

Virgil stared at him, beautiful, alive, with someone else. His partner didn’t turn, but kept walking, seemingly unaware that Virgil had stopped.

People moved around them, tourists, locals. People with lives. Roman blinked and Virgil smiled softly, holding one hand halfway up and giving him a small wave.

Roman smiled back, and Remy’s arm wrapped around him as the other Italian gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Whatcha looking at babes?”

Roman shook his head and turned to kiss Remy. “Saw someone I thought I knew.”

When he looked back to where Virgil was, his partner had noticed their mistake and ran back, sweeping him in a hug that lifted him off his feet. Virgil laughed at something that Roman couldn’t hear as the latter set him down and they interlaced hands.

Virgil looked back one last time as Roman watched them walk away, two lovers from a different reality.

“Addio.” He whispered, but the word carried enough so that Roman could hear it.

From next to him, Remy gave him another kiss. “Love, you okay?”

Roman turned his whole body and wrapped his arms around Remy’s waist. “Yeah, I think I am.”

“Gelato?”

“Only if it’s at Dolci Melodie's.”

“Sounds perfect, we’ll need to take the three bus back to Dateo though.” Remy led him off in the opposite direction as Virgil.

And Roman?

Well, he felt okay for the first time since that fateful night when Virgil first shoved him through a void.

…

Emile squeezed Virgil’s hand as they walked. “What made you stop back there?”

Virgil looked down at the cobblestone for a moment before looking up at the architecture of the Duomo. The scaffolding that had been there the last time he had visited was gone, leaving pearly white and grey marble to be seen by all and admired. 

“I’m not sure.” He looked to Emile and smiled. “Just a feeling you know?”

**Author's Note:**

> so, Roman's 21, Remy's 23 1/2, Emile's 21, Virgil's 20, Rachel would be roughly 20/21 if i did the math right, Patton and Logan are 16.
> 
> i'll start doing lil oneshots, but the main plotline is done, and so please don't expect anything else. I literally start a series whenever I hit a hyperfixation and close it when I can feel the burst slowing. it's a miracle that this got done lmao
> 
> will virgil and roman meet up in the future? yeah, of course. will it be during this trip? no.  
> and yes, emile will dutch braid virgil's hair. and yes, he m e l t s when virgil puts it in a low messy bun with half the hair falling out.  
> also, let me know if you want translations and shit.  
> MIP is the Milan Polytechnic University


End file.
